Short but hopefully sweet.
"Do you...want to come with me?" she asked as the gnawing feeling at the back of her mind told her to stop, but it was too late for that now.
As soon as the words left her mouth, she could feel anxiety creep up on her, instantly making her regret her question. Why was she doing this?
Even though she had made the offer, in her mind she was begging the boy to refuse her. She knew she should be the one but instead she let the responsibility fall on the young boy right in front of her. And that was an awful thing of her to do, she thought, as she saw how his eyes widened just the slightest giving her a sort of elation that she should not be feeling.
"…Okay," she heard him say as whatever she was thinking was replaced by mild shock.
"Okay," she repeated, much for herself as she tried to let go of the thoughts trying to rise up in her head. She'll just have to figure them out later.
…
…
It was five years ago when Naruto realized how different he was from his best friend. Of course, no two people are the same, but still the blond thought that he understood what others went through.
Naruto had been an orphan from a young age so he never got to know his parents. He did have a guardian he really cared for, but that had happened years after he had faced some of the loneliness without anyone of his in this world. But even through that, he never let it bother him. Maybe he was naïve to think that everyone would be like that.
When Sasuke lost his parents right around the beginning of middle school, Naruto tried his best to be there for his best friend. He knew the hardships of being an orphan so he wanted to help, but a sick part of him questioned whether he was glad now that there was someone he knew who was just like him.
So, Naruto tried and tried, doing what he thought was best for a friend that was suffering, and for a while it seemed like it was getting better. Sasuke was not missing school anymore, and he seemed to be more active in class, but maybe that was just his naïve desire to see his friend back to the way he used to be.
When their first year at middle school ended, Sasuke had tried to commit suicide. No one knew about it because no one was supposed to, and no one to this day had known about it, except for the person who attempted it, and his best friend.
It was purely luck that Naruto had decided to visit Sasuke before he went away for vacation. He had wanted to say goodbye and maybe even reassure himself that Sasuke would be okay without him. What he did not expect was to see Sasuke passed out in his room with half-empty bottles on the floor raided from his family's alcohol supply.
The next couple of moments had been a blur and honestly, Naruto could not remember exactly how he did it, but somehow, he stopped Sasuke from succeeding his attempt.
There was a lot of throwing up and yelling, punching and crying, but it was all a blur. When the two had finally calmed down, there was nothing left except for Naruto to occasionally force Sasuke to drink water.
It all came down to the fact that Sasuke had passed out before he could take any more to successfully kill himself, which, in the end, left him more drunk rather than dead. Even with all the sadness and anger at himself and his best friend, Naruto was relieved at the outcome as it was better than what could have been.
When Itachi had gotten home that day, he had found two boys in his younger brother's room, sitting on the floor in a pile of bottles lying on the floor. The two had gotten in a lot of trouble as Itachi grew surprised and angry at the possibility of what had happened.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, Itachi had partially believed Naruto's story of how him and Sasuke were only being stupid as they wanted to try alcohol since everyone talked about it at school. Itachi knew that it was not something implausible but the number of bottles and the behavior of the two boys suggested otherwise. However, with nothing else to go on, the two had just received severe punishment.
After witnessing that and its aftermath where Sasuke had completely shut himself off, Naruto began questioning himself on whether he should have told the truth to Itach, or at least someone that could better help Sasuke. In the end, Naruto did not give up and instead decided to give Sasuke something that would keep him away from his own loneliness.
Sports was the only thing Naruto was good at around that time in middle school so he decided to suggest it to Sasuke who had always kept to the top at academics. He did not know how Sasuke would take his suggestion or how it would turn out, but he did not expect him to take it seriously. And so, for the next couple of years, Naruto saw his best friend gain back a part of his former self as he submerged himself into soccer. He might have also noticed the dependency Sasuke was developing to the game had he not thought that it was only helping him.
But now that Sasuke did not have the sport to keep him occupied, Naruto began to worry a little, so he decided to check up on him from time to time. He even went as far as to force him to go to places and events he knew Sasuke would never agree to on his own just to keep him from being alone.
Even with that, Naruto wondered what else he could do as Sasuke was more and more frequently refusing to hangout, and essentially pushing everyone away. What Naruto did not know was that Sasuke was not spending all his time alone. He had taken up a part time job to fill the void he was feeling at his house.
So, Naruto continued to think of ways to bring out Sasuke as he walked to his favorite ramen restaurant. He thought on his way as he passed by people, ignoring everyone in his path except for one pair that slowly came up in his view.
There was a line formed outside Ichiraku for customers waiting to be seated, and among them was a pair of dark-haired individuals who were engrossed in their own conversation. One of them was someone he was just thinking about, Sasuke, and with him was a woman who smiled up to him with a small blush.
Naruto could not believe the sight he was witnessing as he stood at the end of the line, staring at the pair quite ahead of him. Sasuke seemed relaxed at the moment, and from what he knew of his friend over the years, he was not annoyed by his company like he usually was with other girls at their school.
There was a sense of relief that Naruto felt as he smiled at his friend who was unaware of his presence. Maybe he was not as alone as he thought he was when he stopped playing soccer.
Naruto gave a one last glance to his friend and his company before taking on a content smile and turning to leave. He could get ramen another day.
…
…
Things were like this for him now, like a routine. Every Thursdays and Saturdays, he had dinner with Hinata after he finished his shift and they closed the shop. Somehow, on these days his work schedule had lined up perfectly where he was the only one left with Hinata before close up.
To Sasuke's relief, they had decided to try some new places for food other than Ichiraku Ramen. He did not like the food much there, but he still enjoyed it.
This was his routine now. Aside from those two days in the week, Sasuke still ate dinner alone, with Itachi rarely showing up from work, but he did not hate it as much as he did before. He would not say it out loud, but having something to look forward to made a difference, even if it was costing him a bit of his wallet.
"Should I start closing up at the front?" Sasuke asked Hinata who was in the kitchen.
"Oh, is it closing time already?" She brought up her wrist to look at the watch on it for the time.
It was indeed time to close up the bakery, and since it was a Saturday, they were supposed to try a new place that sold apparently really good tempura.
"Do you need help in the back?" he asked, mostly out of habit since Hinata always refused, leaving him cleaning and closing the front of the shop.
"Hmm," she hummed as she tapped on the glass of her watch. "It was working earlier," she pouted at the now broken machine. "I'll have to…" she was mostly speaking to herself without looking up to see the boy who still stood by the door, amused at her mumbling to herself.
She took a step back as she tried to fix her watch with the dial on the side, completely unaware of her surroundings. The smirk on Sasuke's face slipped as he saw her back into one of the dish racks on the walls causing one of the metal dishes on top to roll off its side and right on top of her.
"Hinata!"
Before she could look up to see what was happening, Sasuke had rushed to her. He tried to pull her away, but could not do so in time so instead he shielded her.
"What…" she asked, looking at the dish that was now on the floor. She looked up to see Sasuke who was now stepping away from her with a hiss and a hand to the side of his forehead. "Sasuke, are you okay?" Panicked by the sight of blood on his brow, Hinata lifted his hand to look at the cut that was right above his right eye. "Oh my god…Let me get the first aid kit!" she rushed.
"It's fine," he winced as she applied some antiseptic to his cut.
"No, it's not," she insisted. "You didn't have to," she bit her lip as she saw how easily it could have been his eye. "Thank you."
"Hn," he responded as he poorly tried to avoid looking at her face and how close it was to his at the moment.
She was right in front of him and he could make out the lines of worry the marred her brow as she treated his cut. He knew she would have been worried if it were anyone else, yet he tried to imagine she was only worried because it was him, as if she were to treat him differently than any other guy in her life.
After finishing covering his cut, Hinata was surprised by how close she had gotten to him. He was sitting on a chair while she stood in front of him to treat his cut. It also did not help that he was staring at her at such a close distance with no inhibition. Usually he would look away if their eyes stayed in contact for too long, but now he was not shying away, and through some censured wish Hinata felt emboldened to not look away either.
She could feel the ghost of his hands hovering close to her hips, closing in slowly for contact, and when they did, they only stayed there, as light as possible, pulling her closer. Their faces leaned closer with each breath as neither broke their stare for fear that this moment would vanish if they looked away.
When she felt his breath so close to her face, she finally realized the situation as it knocked her out of a trance. Her eyes widened only for a second before she awkwardly smiled and lightly pushed on his shoulders to create some distance.
"Y-you're all done," she whispered before turning to leave with the first aid kit. She rushed out of the kitchen as she tried to hide the bright color on her face, fanning it once she was out from his view.
Sasuke on the other hand, sat in the chair with the same color rising up his neck, but his eyes remained on his hands that stayed open in his lap, looking as if they belonged to a stranger.
For the rest of the time, the two remained silent as they quietly cleaned the shop and closed it at the end, never bringing up the situation that had occurred right before it.
"Uh, sorry, I…I can't," Hinata lamely tried to say something as they both awkwardly stood in front of the bakery.
"Yeah, me too," Sasuke added quickly before she could say more.
"Oh…okay, then I'll see you—"
"Hn," he nodded as he kept his eyes to the road.
Before the silence could drag on, the two decided to leave, each going opposite directions and neither looking back to the other.
The next day, Sasuke woke up to the realization of what had happened, or almost happened the night before, and cursed at nothing in particular. He was reluctant to go to his shift but went anyway after trying to forget as much as he could.
Right before noon, he made his way to the bakery, but on his way, he passed by a convenient store. Remembering something from the day before, he made his way into the store and walked out with a small item of purchase that he placed in his backpack.
When he made it to the bakery, most of the employees were just starting to take their lunch break except for a few that were at the front. After putting his stuff away in the employees' room and wearing his apron for his shift, Sasuke took out the box he had purchased earlier. Knowing how she always let everyone take their lunch before she did, Sasuke made his way to where he was sure Hinata was in the bakery.
She was in the pantry, taking inventory on a list in her hand, too busy to notice someone walk in through the door.
Sasuke saw her standing by the shelf in her usual clothes with her hair tied in a loose ponytail behind her. She always kept the same hairstyle and her clothes rarely changed from anything simple, yet he could not help but find it hard to look away from her.
"Oh!" she gasped, startled as she turned and saw Sasuke just standing there.
Hinata opened her mouth to say something, but as the two looked at each other, the events of the day before occurred to both of them causing each to awkwardly look away.
"I thought," Sasuke started, as he looked at the blushing woman's empty wrist and continued, "you might need this." He took out the box he brought with him and stepped closer to hand it to her.
Hinata hesitantly reached out to take the box Sasuke held out for her, all the while fighting between surprise and embarrassment as she looked up to see the mask of indifference on his face.
Having grown up with people who took pride in how well they hid their emotions, Hinata could say she was good at seeing past their masks.
"They didn't have much options so...Wear it. Don't. It's up to you," he said, without giving her a single glance before leaving the dumbfounded woman rooted in her spot.
As Sasuke left the pantry, leaving her alone there, Hinata looked at the plain box wondering what it could be. She lifted it up to inspect before pulling on the cover to open it.
Looking in to the content of the small box, Hinata's eyes widened slightly as her lips parted with a breath and her heart began to beat just a bit faster. There inside was a working wrist watch ticking with the time that was supposed to be at that moment, or maybe it was not since Hinata did not know how long she had stood there.
That day everyone working at the bakery commented at her odd choice of a bright red watch that was not what she usually wore on her wrist. But Hinata always responded with a smile that she did not care because she liked it, and unbeknownst to everyone else, Sasuke always heard that every time, even if he pretended not to, causing him to hide behind his bangs.
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